MR SPOCK TANGLES WITH CAPTAIN KIRK & I PICK A WINNER

I have two very good friends whose goodness stands a millions miles apart from the other. One is a serious, rational-minded scholar; the other an affable, emotion-guided roustabout. Both have lived a long enough life to have come to some conclusions about it. The first has this keen, scientific view that asserts, "take nothing for granted!" The second asserts nothing, but seems to believe, "there's a lot to take for granted!"

I'm still trying to make up my mind. It's something like watching a "Star Trek" episode and trying to decide if Mr Spock or Captain Kirk is my hero.

There are a great many Spocks in today's more scientifically-enlightened age. They quite properly insist upon facts and statistics and evidence before they believe. [If they were Bible-believers their role model would be the Apostle Thomas who would not believe in the risen Christ until he placed his hands into His wounds from the Cross].

I was thinking about that as I recently scanned the results of various scholarly research which reached conclusions such as: Ghettos breed crimes in our cities...letting children dress like porn stars is ill advised...leaving kids on their own in front of television is harmful...the study of comparative religions shows there are many different ways of understanding God...Social Security and Medicare are endangered because people prefer instant gratification to long-range planning.

My friend the happy roustabout shrugged when I shared these footnoted conclusions with him. His longest statement on the matter was a roll of the eyes as he stretched out his one-word commentary: "Sooooo?" I took that to mean that he didn't need the research to reach the obvious. 70 some years of intuitive instincts had already informed him of these conclusions. [Made me think of Grandma Mary who used to smile generously whenever I rushed home with a dazzling new fact that she had probably been living with for the last 50 years].

OK, so maybe this is all saying that Kirk and his flurry of passions appeals more to me than Spock's precision of premises. I'm not sure, because, well, that would be too un-scientific of me. On the other hand, that just might be true. After all, Grandma Mary never got past 8th grade, and yet I always found myself going to her for advice until the day she died, still listening to me with her generous smile of understanding...